Driver assistance systems and future automated driving functions are intended only for a specific field of application, within which they must function reliably. With the increasing number of functions, the judgment as to whether a function can operate within its system limits and therefore may safely be activated in the current or present driving situation is becoming more and more difficult for the average driver. It is therefore sensible to relieve the driver of having to make this judgment, and to offer the activation of the function only if a controllable situation exists (for example, activation of a traffic-jam assist only if there is currently a traffic jam, activation of a road-construction-site assist only within road-construction sites, activation of a maneuvering assist only within a parking place/parking garage).
In the case of systems for highly automated driving, for safety reasons (no driver as fallback level), an activation outside of the system limits must absolutely be avoided. Methods for reliably determining the current driving situation are therefore a key technology for the implementation of automated driving.